Young America's Foundation's Mission

Young America's Foundation programs offer invaluable assistance to young men and women searching for the encouragement and understanding necessary to reinforce the values of a free society and individual responsibility. As young conservatives, you have a very special task before you — that of developing the political awareness of your fellow students. ~ President Ronald Reagan

Young America’s Foundation is committed to ensuring that increasing numbers of young Americans understand and are inspired by the ideas of individual freedom, a strong national defense, free enterprise, and traditional values.

As the principal outreach organization of the Conservative Movement, the Foundation introduces thousands of American youth to these principles. We accomplish our mission by providing essential conferences, seminars, educational materials, internships and speakers to young people across the country.

Young America's Foundation stepped in to save President Reagan's Western White House, Rancho del Cielo, in the spring of 1998 to preserve it as a living monument to Ronald Reagan and to make it the centerpiece of the Presidential Leadership Program. President Reagan has always committed himself to reaching young people with his ideas - a goal that is also central to the Foundation's mission.

Preserving the ranch and passing on the President's lasting accomplishments Young America's Foundation's way of thanking Ronald Reagan for all he has done for his country and the world. His beloved ranch will become a place of learning, a place of encouragement, a place of inspiration for generations to come.

The History of Young America’s Foundation Introduction

Young America’s Foundation began in the late 1960s at Vanderbilt University when a group of students formed an organization called University Information Services (UIS). Formed in reac tion to the radicals who dominated the campus, the objective behind UIS was to provide students with conservative ideas that were missing in their education. In the early 1970s, UIS became a national organization that was renamed Young America’s Foundation. The goal of bringing conservative speakers to campus remained, and the Foundation launched a nationwide effort to bring the Conserva tive Movement’s greatest minds and voices to col lege campuses in an effort to provide intellectual balance. In 1974, the Foundation expanded its activities by initiating and financing a nationally syndicated radio program featuring California Governor Ronald Reagan. Governor Reagan’s addresses, focusing on a variety of issues including taxes, crime, and foreign policy, helped strengthen the future president’s national reputation. Beginning in the early 1970s, Young America's Foundation published an annual debate handbook for college and high school debate teams. In 1976, the Foundation inaugurated a national bicentennial program highlighting our Founders’ philosophy of freedom. The program was created to counteract leftists attempting to discredit our nation’s Founders. Foundation leaders, including Ron Robinson and Frank Donatelli, helped establish the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in the mid-1970s and were proud to host newly-inaugurated president Ronald Reagan for a memorable dinner banquet in 1981. That banquet and every CPAC since have been co-sponsored by Young America’s Foundation.

Reagan Ranch

In 1998, Young America’s Foundation saw an extraordinary opportunity to save a precious piece of American history and, at the same time, exponentially increase our ability to fulfill our mission of reaching young people with conservative ideas. On April 21, 1998, Young America’s Foundation acquired the Reagan Ranch with the blessings of the President.

When Young America’s Foundation discovered that President Reagan’s ranch in California - Rancho del Cielo - stood in danger of being purchased by people with no regard for its historic value, we acted immediately. For Young America’s Foundation, whose own history and ethos is tied directly to President Reagan, saving the Ranch offered an unmatchable opportunity to pass on Ronald Reagan’s conservative ideas to young people for generations to come. Rancho del Cielo is a 688-acre property comparable to Mount Vernon, Monticello, or the LBJ Ranch. All are historic presidential properties that deserve the same reverence. President Reagan spent 364 days of his Presidency at the Western White House, hosting world leaders such as Margaret Thatcher. It was there that President Reagan signed important legislation including the famous 1981 tax cut. The Reagans owned the Ranch for twenty-five years; the only property they owned while Ronald Reagan was president.

Conferences

Young America’s Foundation held its first Annual National Conservative Student Conference during the summer of 1979, a conference which continues today. Student leaders gathered from across the country to experience an intensive week of informative seminars and training in campus activism. Students also had an oppor tunity to meet and discuss issues with professors, movement experts, public policy leaders, media personalities, and like-minded students. James Taylor, now a Foundation board member, proudly inaugurated the program and ran the conference for many years. In 1983, Young America's Foundation made national headlines when two summer conference attendees were arrested by D.C. police for protesting the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan outside the Soviet Embassy. The Foundation appealed the case all the way to the Supreme Court where, in 1988, the Court awarded the students a major First Amendment victory. The Supreme Court ruling in Boos vs. Barry overturned a fifty-year-old law barring protests outside of embassies. In 1995, the summer conference featured a banquet with House Speaker Newt Gingrich at which students cheered “Newt! Newt ! Newt!” and received a signed copy of his book, To Renew America. That year also brought an historic Supreme Court decision in the case of Rosenberger vs. Rector and the Visitors of the University of Virginia. Then Foundation Program Officer Ron Rosenberger successfully argued that the Christian student newspaper, Wide Awake, was a victim of “viewpoint discrimination” when the University of Virginia denied funding. Since 1979, over 3,600 of the most promising student leaders in America have passed through the National Conservative Student Conference ; many now hold important positions in government, law, business, journalism, and education. These talented leaders now keep in touch and recruit young leaders to attend our current programs through our Alumni Network. Given the success of the summer conference, Young America’s Foundation expanded its efforts to regional and high school conferences. A 1995 conference in Dallas hosted over 400 students, and other regional conference cities have since included Atlanta, Minneapolis, Richmond, Seattle, St. Louis, and Boston. The West Coast Leadership Conference, held in southern California, has also grown since its inception. In addition, the Foundation hosts Road To Freedom Seminars at the Reagan Ranch Center in Santa Barbara, California. Since 1997, the Foundation has also hosted the National High School Leadership Conference to serve as a “crash course” in conservative thought for high school students. In 2005, the conference was named after a generous bequest from the late Gracia Houghton Rinehart. The Foundation held our first Reagan Ranch High School Conference in early 2007. Speakers at Foundation conferences comprise a “who’s who” of the Conservative Movement. Students have heard from Nobel Laureates James Buchanan, Milton Friedman, and Vernon Smith. President Reagan and both Presidents Bush hosted conference attendees at the White House. Foundation Vice President Ron Pearson has secured top Congressional speakers for students including Newt Gingrich, Trent Lott, Tom DeLay, Jack Kemp, Bob Dornan, Dana Rohrabacher, Jesse Helms, and John Ashcroft. Key media figures such as Robert Novak, Ann Coulter, and Stan Evans have spoken. Other leaders including William F. Buckley, Clarence Thomas, Tom Clancy, Caspar Weinberger, Jeane Kirkpatrick, Elaine Chao, Tony Snow, Robert George, Harvey Mansfield, Ward Connerly, Ed Meese, and Ronald Reagan have also addressed Foundation conferences.

Campus Lectures

Young America’s Foundation broadened its promotion of conservative ideas on campus when it expanded the campus lecture program. Before the Foundation grew its breakthrough lecture program, other organizations focused on sponsoring conservative professors and intellectuals. These individuals espoused conservative ideas as effectively as anyone, but they were not reaching sufficient numbers of students to have a significant impact. The Foundation introduced the idea of using conservative speakers with national reputations as a means to ensure a large audience. These are speakers that students, the local community, and even professors want to hear. They are policy makers, celebrities, and newsmakers, rather than obscure professors. The large audiences these speakers generate show the campus communities that students are eager to hear conservative ideas. The left has embarrassed itself through negative reactions to our lectures through the years. Student radicals burned Bibles outside Pat Buchanan’s lecture at Syracuse University, a couple staged a “gay kiss-in” during Ralph Reed’s lecture at Northwestern University, and radical feminists disrupted a Star Parker lecture with an obnoxious skit in front of the stage. Many breakthrough lectures have occurred at campuses throughout the country. More than a million students have attended a live Young America’s Foundation lecture over the years, and millions more have seen our speakers on C-SPAN. In 1992, Gulf War hero Norman Schwarzkopf addressed over 3,000 cheering students at Chapman University in California. William F. Buckley, Jr. addressed over 1,700 students at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill in 1993 after a controversial appearance by Jesse Jackson. William F. Buckley, Jr. noted the importance of the Foundation’s lecture program when he said, “On the matter of your lecture series, these are experiences of infinite importance. As recently as last night, a 42-year-old affluent influential conservative told an audience of 400 people that his orientation came from hearing such a talk (yes, by me) at Cornell when he was a sophomore. So I do hope that your important Foundation will be able to continue to support such appearances in the years ahead.” For more information on current lectures, please click here.

Activism

Young America’s Foundation has taught students how to share conservative ideas with their peers and defended students’ rights since its inception. The Foundation stands up for students wishing to defend their country through the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC), who have long had their rights challenged and stripped by administrators at many campuses. A more recent battle has been to defend students’ rights to meet with military recruiters on college campuses. As students become young activists, they often face similar difficulties in organization, event planning, and in responding to attacks from the Left. For that reason, Young America’s Foundation developed the Conservative Guide to Campus Activism, a book with activism advice from the leading activists and tacticians of the Conservative Movement. The first edition was released in the early 1990’s, and the second edition was released in 2005. The most recent version features breakthrough advice on the secrets of activism from the leading tacticians of the Conservative Movement including Ann Coulter, David Horowitz, Michelle Malkin, Bay Buchanan, and others. A new activism publication of Young America’s Foundation is the Campus Conservative Battleplan. The Battleplan is a thematic, month-by-month guide jammed-packed with activism ideas from August to May. The book encourages students to become involved with the Foundation’s theme projects including Freedom Week, an initiative that celebrates the fall of the Berlin Wall and the toppling of communism by honoring the U.S. military. Another activism project is the 9/11: Never Forget project where students are encouraged to properly remember the victims of 9/11 with a flag memorial and other activities on their campuses.

Resources

Over a million conservative posters have been distributed to students nationwide since 1969. Students, professors, and alumni proudly share conservative ideas with their peers when they display our conservative posters. Early posters targeted topics rang ing from reverse dis crimination through race-based admissions policies, to the false claims made by reaction ary environmentalists, to documenting the rise in the standard of living under the Reagan presidency. More recently, posters have featured conservative heroes such as Ronald Reagan, Ann Coulter, and Freidrich Hayek, as well as themes such as “I Love Capitalism” and the importance of reading conservative books. Outstanding student activists who host lectures, attend conferences, and make a difference on their campus are rewarded by Young America’s Foundation’s Club 100 activist rewards program. Any student earning over 100 points in an academic year qualifies for an all expense paid trip to the Reagan Ranch where he or she will experience life as Ronald Reagan did – riding horses and living in ranch-like accommodations.

National Journalism Center

The National Journalism Center (NJC) was founded by M. Stanton Evans in 1977 and became part of Young America’s Foundation in 2002. A unique venture in journalism education, NJC is devoted to accuracy, balance, and comprehension of the issues. The program, held three times per year, trains scores of students in the skills of press work while they are assigned an internship at a cooperating media location. The NJC has placed interns at more than 50 outside outlets, including ABC, Newsweek, CNN, New Republic, C-SPAN, National Journal, BBC, Nation's Business, Fox News, Roll Call, Black Entertainment Television, The Hill, UPI, The City Paper, Larry King Live, and Washingtonian. Over 1,400 students have graduated from the NJC's 12-week program. NJC alumni have written more than 100 books, many of which developed from projects while in the program. Prominent alumni include authors Ann Coulter, Wall Street Journal columnist John Fund, and Reagan scholar Steven Hayward. It is estimated that at least 900 other alumni have gone on to work in the media. Among the outlets where NJC graduates have worked after graduation are the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal; ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, PBS, NPR, CNN, C-SPAN, Time, and Newsweek. NJC students receive rigorous journalism training outside their internship. Speakers from the world of public policy and the media, many of whom are alumni of the program, regularly address participants. As in all other facets of our training, the stress in these discussions is on the practice of the trade, not academic theory. Past speakers have included Brian Lamb of C-SPAN, syndicated columnist Robert Novak, National Review Editor and NJC Board of Directors member Rich Lowry, Tony Snow of Fox News Channel, and many others.

Publications

Young America’s Foundation has published a variety of materials that have advanced conservative ideas. Some early books included American Economics Texts: A Free Market Critique (1982) and an examination of Columbus’ impact on America entitled Columbus on Trial (1992). The Foundation also supported the republishing of several classic conservative works including Barry Goldwater’s The Conscience of a Conservative (1980), and Henry Regnery’s Memoirs of a Dissident Publisher (1985). Dr. Burton Folsom, a Hillsdale College professor and frequent conference speaker, wrote Entrepreneurs vs. the State (1987), now called The Myth of the Robber Barrons, which is in its fourth edition as a Foundation publication. Our signature publication has long been Libertas. It serves as the quarterly newsletter, reporting on the activities of the Foundation including conferences, the lecture program, the Reagan Ranch, activist resources, and upcoming activities. The Foundation has also published a few other books and journals over the years. The journal Continuity, published between 1991 and 1998, featured historical scholarship and commentary. Thomas D’Lorenzo wrote Job Prospects for College Graduates (1994), a book concerning the downfalls of government’s involvement in the job market. In addition, the Foundation published Campus Leader (1991-2000), a newsletter featuring a poster insert and Campus Impact which highlighted breakthrough lectures nationwide.

Conclusion

Young America’s Foundation’s reputation as a source of aid and information for college students is based on years of steadfast support for balance in education. While the Foundation is reaching more students now than ever before, the nation’s campuses continue to be staffed and controlled by leftist radicals who seek a monopoly on what is said and thought. As long as this trend continues, there will be a need for Foundation programs for students who seek to gain a complete education.